Cirea's War
by Brett A Longman
Summary: CHAPTER 2 IS UP: Everyone remember how Elmyra spoke of her husband in Wutai? Well, this is his story...
1. Prologue

Cirea's War

Prologue

            "Cirea, must you go?" asked Elmyra, a tear swelling in her eye.

"I am truly sorry," was Cirea's reply, "But you know that I must.  Soldier needs me.  You were aware, long before we married, that I was in Soldier, and that a war against Shinra would drag me away from you…" A single tear running down his face, wiped away by a quick movement of his arm.  Married to Elmyra for 6 years without a battle to attend had created an indestructible bond between them, a bond that only soul mates could share.  Cirea had always hoped to be able to leave Soldier, to spend his time with his loving wife.  However, Shinra had convinced him to stay.  Now he was called away, to fight in a war he knew very little about.  The ninjas of Wutai, a distant village, had declared war on Shinra.  That was Cirea's extent of knowledge towards the war.

"Yes, but you haven't been called out for war before today…" Elmyra replied.

"I know, but that is why I must go. I am sorry." With this, Elmyra broke into a weak sob.  Cirea embraced her, taking her in his arms.  

Cirea had meet Elmyra 7 years prior, when he had first made it to Soldier, Shinra's most elite strand of the army.  Cirea, though only 3rd class, was a powerful warrior.  Upon joining Soldier, he was forced to move to the land of Midgar.  Midgar, a vision of depression and hate.  At least, that is the way the slums were viewed.  The slums, divided into 8 sectors, were the lower parts of Midgar.  The top was like a giant plate, held up by concrete pillars.  Upon the top was the company building for Shinra Inc.  

Now, Cirea met Elmyra by fluke.  He was sitting in a small bar called the Seventh Heaven, located within Sector 7, when he saw her sitting in the corner, sobbing.  He moved towards her, and tapped her on the shoulder. 

"May I sit here?" He had asked, pointing to the chair next to her.

She had shaken her head, and Cirea started to walk away.

"Wait, no, you can sit here." She managed to say between sobs.  And Cirea sat down, noticing she did not have a ring on her finger.

"May I ask why you are so depressed?" Cirea had asked.

"My father, he just died today." She replied, trying to stop crying.

"I see, would you rather be alone?" 

"No, I think I need the company."

They began talking.  This was when Cirea learned the name of the young woman.  Elmyra, it seemed to roll off his tongue.  Apparently, Elmyra's father had been caught between a shoot out on his way to his daughter's house.  When Elmyra had found out, she ran to the bar, not looking back.

Cirea waited about two and a half weeks.  He had then asked her on a date.  She agreed willingly.  The rest is ancient history, and they married the next year.

Now, Cirea was forced to go fight in the war. 6 years and he had not been bothered, and now out of the blue, this.  In two weeks, he would be forced to leave his spouses side, possibly to never return. 


	2. Chapter 1: New Friends

Cirea's War

Chapter 1

New Friends

_June 3rd_

_It has been three weeks now.  I already feel as if I am dead.  Being away from you, my dear Elmyra, is killing me inside.  I was thinking about one of the many stories you had told me about your life as a child.  The one you told me about when you fell out of a tree.  Today, two fellow soldiers broke their arms.  It reminded me of the tree, because you said you broke your arm too.  The war here in Wutai is brutal.  So far at least 50 casualties have been suffered, and at least another 40 soldiers will not fight again.  The hospital has filled up quickly with wounded men, the surgeon, Herto Hym, has been working tirelessly.  Last I heard, the ninja's champion had a poisoned blade which killed 3 soldiers via a gangrene infection.  One of these soldiers, was Soldier 3rd Classes champions, Seranem.  The ninjas, they use the same swords as we do for close range combat, but they seem much more skilled.  They move almost like dancers, and are nearly impossible to hit.  Their agility surpasses that of my own, though they seem incapable of using it correctly.  I am very lucky my skills with a sword exceed that of most of the other soldiers from Shinra, as I was in a fight with a ninja earlier today.  I came out of the bunker and the bastard had surprised me with a slash to the face.  My sword seemingly leapt into my hand from the scabbard loop composed of reinforced leather fastened to my belt.  I pierced his arm and the scum freaked out.  He charged at me with seemingly insane power, power you would be hard in believing possible.  The battle between us went on for about 5 minutes.  He lanced at me and I parried each blow.  He did not get many hits to me.  I have only a small cut on my chest where his dagger broke through my bronze bangle.  Each blow I parried brought me closer to winning.  He was losing blood like crazy through the cut in his arm, and it turned out I pierced a vital artery, the blood never ceasing to flow.  He eventually collapsed from the blood loss.  I dug my sword so far into the fucker's throat that I actually felt sorry for him.  I don't anymore.  The cut on my face hurts beyond all reaches of human imagination.  The agony is like the fires of hell, burning within my flesh, attempting to tear the skin apart from my face and expose large portions of my skull.  The blood stopped flowing a few hours ago, but the hell fire remains…_

            Cirea took a break from writing in the journal.  He looked about him.  In his bunker, there were four beds, three of which were filled.  The warrior, Lanter, was killed earlier.  Cirea had watched in horror as a ninja had shoved a sword right through the warrior's chest, crimson blood leaking onto the snow below, leaving it a stained red, nearly painful to the eye.  Outside, Cirea heard the Commanding Officers talking.

"There is no way we can leave alive at this rate." Said a small general, by the name of Goryan.

"Calm down Goryan," said a large man, an officer by the name of Arik, "think before you talk.  Today, the least skilled men died.  With the more skilled soldiers remaining, do you really think that the casualties will stay this high?  No.  We have some of the strongest warriors on earth with us, do the think they will die as easily?"

Goryan realized the sense in his superior's words, but he knew.  The ninjas would certainly bring in reinforcements after having lost over 70 ninjas today alone.  Shinra was doomed, unless they sent reinforcements soon.  "Sir, is Shinra going to send reinforcements?" he asked, fearing the answer.

"Not yet. They will probably…" but Goryan cut him off.

"We are doomed! If Shinra doesn't smarten up and send reinforcements, the ninjas will destroy us! This is bull sh…" 

"ENOUGH!" yelled Arik, anger swelling within him, his fury growing to amounts he could not stand.  He let his rage get the better of him.  "You don't think I know that!?  Don't ever talk to me with that tone again! You hear me?"  He grabbed the younger General.  "We will die.  It is certain.  The only way to save ourselves would be to call for reinforcements ourselves, but seeing as how our communications are blocked…"

The officer kept talking but Cirea stopped listening.  This was what he feared.  The officers knew the soldiers would die, and so did Shinra.  Did they care?  No.  Why should they?  The soldiers were just lower class slime to them!  Anger rose in Cirea, and he started to think about running away.  He could wander away and hide out until the war died down… 

His thought wandered back to Elmyra, and the anger subsided.  "Don't be a fool." She yelled, her voice invading his mind. "You cannot escape, for they will catch you and kill you.  All you can do is hope for reinforcements."

Hope.  Yeah right.  When the odds are against you a million to one?  What hope is there?  Cirea sat and stared into space.  Elmyra stood before him, short and proud.  Cirea reached out to touch her.  The illusion faded.  He lay down and tried to sleep, but it took him nearly 4 hours.  He drifted into a disturbed sleep; images of himself being cut down or shot crowded his head…

At dawn, the soldiers were fed dried meat and various canned goods.  In the distance, they could see the enemy camp, where a lot of movement could be seen.

"Ok soldiers," The booming voice of the officer Arik filed down the line of soldiers. Each soldier, in a synchronized manner, stood and forced an old fashion salute. "At ease."  And again, the soldiers were synchronized, leaving their salute. "After a discussion last night, which no doubt some of you heard," he said, staring at Cirea, "we have decided.  We are going to send someone to venture far into the Wutai lands and find a source of communication.  Unfortunately, the ninjas have found a way to block our radios.  We will send you in a party of three, otherwise it will be far too risky.  You must disguise yourselves as best you can, and radio the Shinra for backup.  Find out if they will send Soldier, first class.  I will not lie to you, this will be VERY risky.  Do I have any volunteers?"

Cirea thought about it. Did the gods present this job, as a chance of survival?  He doubted it.  However, the image of Elmyra flashed through his mind once again.  She tried to say something, but he could not clearly make it out.

"I'll go!" said a young man, from the Shinra guard.

"Me too!" said another from the Shinra guard.

Cirea was lost in thought, when the officer spoke once more.

"I need someone from Soldier to go and serve as the leader.  Anyone?" 

Nobody's had rose, and all was silent.

Finally, "I'll go." Cirea's voice yelled, seemingly without his permission.

"Good.  You three will leave in an hour.  The fighting will begin again and you must sneak out.  Head deep into the mountains until you find the village of Wutai.  There you must search for communications.  Mission clear?"

The three men nodded and move to the back of the camp to become acquainted and plot their sneak out. 

"My name is Horth." Said the first man, his brown eyes focusing on Cirea's muscles. Horth had short, brown hair and wore the pale blue uniform of the Shinra guard.  On his belt he carried a thin sword, and three hunting knives.  His movement were well balanced, indicating to Cirea that the man was fast, and well used to combat.

"And mine is Koghir." Offered the second man.  He had shoulder length red hair and thin blue eyes.  He also wore the pale blue uniform of the Shinra guard.  On his belt he had 2 pistols, scores of armor piercing bullets, and a large sword was strapped to his back, running down from his shoulder.  

"Mine is Cirea, and don't worry, I will treat you as equals. Though I am the team leader, I figure it this way: if I were to boss you around, and you didn't like it, you guys could kill me.  We are to work as a team." 

            A look of relief came over Horth.  "I like you.  And your outlook, but I doubt we could kill you. You are in Soldier, while neither of us made it."

Cirea grinned.  "True, but there are two of you!  I agree though, you probably couldn't.  Now, from the look of your belt, Koghir, you are a distance specialist.  This is good.  I trust your aim is precise?" Koghir nodded. "Good. And you, Horth, are a close range combatant, correct?"

"Yeah, but what do you specialize in?"

"I am all around.  My skills with a sword are better than many, and I have good aim with my pistol.  It seems the team is pretty well balanced.  Now, how are we going to go about sneaking away?"

"Yesterday, I noticed the enemy left the territory to the east untouched.  We should be able to sneak by unseen in that direction.  The only problem is, there is forest around those part where the outlaws are said to live." Replied Koghir

"Outlaws?" Cirea asked.

"The outlaws are the few people who were banned from Wutai many years ago following the civil war.  They have been living in that wood for hundreds of years, their ancestors still plotting revenge on Wutai for banning them." Retorted Horth

"I see.  What would become of us if we were captured?" 

"Well, there are a variety of things ranging from just being robbed, to being skinned alive and hung on a pole for the sun to disintegrate your entire body." Answered Koghir

"Hmm, and what of the territory to the west?" asked Horth

"No good.  Yesterday I saw them training troops over there.  We wouldn't make it that way." Cirea answered.  Despair rode over him.  East it was, but what if they were caught?  

"Well, east it must be." Said Koghir

"So be it." 

            The plan was simple enough, head to the east until they were no longer in site of the enemy.  They almost overlooked one point, the uniforms.  They would have to dress as the ninjas, as to not draw attention.  The ninja costumes prepared for them were perfect, but they just added to the dangers of heading east.  If the outlaws took them, how would they explain why they were dressed as the ninjas?  The tents were packed and dried meat and fruit were sent with them as they left.

            Elmyra sat at home, looking at a photo album she had found in the attic.  There were pictures of when Cirea and her first met, and pictures of her from long before.  She came upon a picture of her and her best friend Isis.  She remembered with great horror.  Isis had died the same day the picture was taken.  They were walking through the slums on their way to the nearby church, when two men jumped out in front of them.  Elmyra had been too scared to see what they looked like, or where they came from.  The two men had grabbed Isis, tearing her clothes off, licking her skin like savages.  They had tied Elmyra's hands and forced her to sit and watch as they continued to rape Isis.  After the rape, the first man ran forward and dragged his hunting knife across Isis' throat, and Elmyra watched as her friend's lifeblood, crimson and horrifying, dripped to the dirt road.  The first man, who had tied Elmyra's hands to her back, began to tear off her clothes.  Just then, a man had jumped out from behind a truck and sliced a large axe through the air, forcing itself down upon the second attackers waist, cutting the man into two halves, which fell to the road next to the miserable corpse of Isis.  The first attacker rushed the man with the axe in a hopeless attempt to avenge his partner.  The axed man swung his axe downwards and the man brought his knife up to guard against the attack.  The axe had smashed through the knife and driven through the man so fast Elmyra hardly kept up.  Promptly, the axe man had run to Elmyra, sliced through the ropes with his axe, and then run off into the bushes, not even remaining behind for a thank you…

  
          


	3. Chapter 2: Soldier vs Outlaw

Cirea's War

Chapter 2

Soldier vs. Outlaw

June 6th 

_The past three days have been easy.  The war seems so miniscule when you are away from the action.  We have been traveling along the tree lines, careful not to leave open ground.  Long since did we lose view of the battlefield.  There have been movements seen in the trees, scaring the men, including myself.  Last night, we confirmed the rumor of the outlaws, when one of them came to our camp, armed with a small hunting knife.  Before the man had a chance to attack, my sword had slipped between his ribs, piercing his heart, killing him almost instantly.  Other than that, we have run into no opposition, though Horth is afraid the outlaws found their man and are advancing on us.  He is huddled by the fire with his sword in hand, ready to attack.  Koghir and I are more at ease though.  I am not sure what it is, but something is making us more relaxed.  Perhaps the death of the outlaw spurred battle spirits.  Over the days, I have gotten to know these men.  Horth, he is certain not made for battle.  His abilities are great, but in real danger, though he demonstrates his efforts for bravery, he is always scared.  Koghir on the other hand is made for combat. By the time I had killed the outlaw, Koghir was already ready with his pistol.  There is no fear in the man, and I am scared for him.  Without fear, there is no sense of danger, and without a sense of danger, he will die young…_

            "What you up to Cirea?" Asked Horth, his sword still in hand.

            "Nothing, just a little habit I have." He replied, slipping the journal into his pack.

            "What?  Writing an autobiography?  You've been working on that thing for over an hour!" Koghir said, a sharp grin on his face.

            Cirea was about to reply, when a sharp cracking sound drew all their attention to the forest a few hundred paces away.

            "THAT was no animal." Said Horth, trembling, "they're here, I told you they were coming.  They have come to get us!"

            "Shut up!" Cirea whispered, scanning the darkness for any sign of movement.

            An hour passed, then another, and the men began to relax.  As always, Koghir volunteered for first watch, but the fatigue on his face told Cirea otherwise.  "You will not be on watch at all tonight Koghir, you have been the night sentry far more than Horth and I put together!  Tonight, you will sleep soundly."

            Koghir was about to answer, but realized the logic in what Cirea was saying.  What good would his keen eye be if he was too tired to even keep it open.

            Horth groaned.  "That means double watch for us you know." He grumbled, "Oh how I revel THAT thought."

            "You can pick first or second watch tonight Horth. Which will it be?"

            "First, I'm too awake to sleep.  That crack almost made me shit myself.  I don't much care to sleep if I know someone is out there."

            Cirea went and lay down in his tent, unfolding his wool-lined sleeping bag.  The bag was itchy, but is sure kept the heat in.  He lay there, thinking of Elmyra, and finally drifting into a long-needed sleep – only to be awoken by Horth an hour later.

            After about 3 minutes, Cirea heard Horth's breathing slow, and he knew he was asleep.  Sitting on snow, he swore he heard another crack, though not as loud as before.  He sat for five minutes, five long minutes of silence, until an arrow flew past his ear, nicking the skin.  Cirea jumped to his feet, his heart pounding in his chest.  Quickly, he awoke the others, alerting them of the attack. By the time he turned around, he saw at least thirty outlaws rushing towards the site.  The enemy appeared to be about a hundred paces, progressing at a calm pace, almost like a delicate march.

            They stopped their movement mere paces from the camp.  One outlaw stepped forward.

            "You have been found guilty of murdering one of our people.  You shall pay the death penalty." He said pointing at all three.

            "What, do you plan to take us alive, skin us, and hang us on polls?" asked Cirea, making no effort to contain his irritation.

            "Something like that." Said the outlaw, drawing his saber, "You seek to kill all 32 of us?"

            "If only it were possible…" said Cirea, throwing his hands in the air.

            Puzzled, Horth and Koghir followed suit.  Another outlaw stepped forward to disarm Cirea.  The man took the hunting knife Cirea had taking off the dead outlaw from the night before.  The man moved to his right side, about to take his sword.  Cirea leapt back, drawing the sword and with a quick slice, the outlaw's head spun from his neck to the cold snow.  A few of the outlaws notched arrows to their bows, but the leader through up his hand to stop them shooting.  He was about to speak when Cirea cut him off.

            "If I am to die, I die with my sword in hand.  Now, would there be anyway to win freedom?" He asked lamely.

            "Yes, but you have no chance.  The only way is to beat our champion in a death match, swords only. You stand no chance, but you are welcome to try!" said the leader, a hint of laughter in his voice.

            "So be it.  I shall fight.  Better to die fighting for freedom and the freedom of my comrades than to be killed in an execution, though I hardly plan on dieing."

            The line of outlaws let a roar of laughter run from their filthy mouths. 

            "You're a cocky one aren't you, tough guy?" asked the leader, a grin on his face.

            "Of course!"

            They were locked in large cages; composed of large amounts of steel; and hung from the trees.  The branches groaned and bent under the weight of man and steel, but none broke for they were strong trees.

            "So, when is my battle?" Cirea asked the guard rather plainly.

            "Three days, thought we'd starve you a bit first!" Said the guard menacingly. 

            Cirea nodded. "Makes no difference to me.  I can wait to kill your champ.  Never did like killing anyway."

            The guard burst out in laughter, turning a few heads.

            The outlaws had settled well.  Many of the trees in the surrounding area had been cut down to build huts and for firewood.  In the trees many of the hut were situated.  Cirea was stunned at first, for the closest thing to this he had seen was a small tree fort he had built when he was younger.  The trees appeared to be made for the huts, not visa-versa.  The whole area looked like a large tree settlement, composed entirely of wood.       

            Over the next three days, Cirea observed his opponent sparring with some of the outlaws.  The man was big, there was no doubt there, but his speed was affected greatly.  He moved with grace, but his swings were poorly timed and his large arms took a short while to prepare for the next attack.  Cirea noticed the man always shifted his weight before he attacked, making his moves easy to read.  The match would not last long, he thought.

            On first dawn of the third day, he was hauled from his cage and placed in a great circle.  He drew his sword, and the giant did the same.  Cirea advanced slowly, leaving his opponent to believe he was tired.  The giant did not fall for the bluff, but instead charged at full strength cutting madly at Cirea.  Cirea launched a series of quick ripostes, open small holes in the man's great frame.  The giant attacked again, his fury at the speed of his opponent spurring him ever on.  Again Cirea countered with lightning fast ripostes.  The giant was tiring now, his large frame no longer fit nor young.  He steadied himself and began to attack more defensively, Cirea's ripostes being repelled by the giant defense.  The man struck out with his fist, shattering Cirea's nose with a deafening crunch.  Cirea used the pain to spur him to the heights of his power.  Now was the time to finish it.  He launched a series of attacks, and the giant fell.  Cirea pulled his sword clear of the man's chest, and the screams of pain erupted.

            "Well…" said the leader gritting his teeth, "that was… most unexpected."

            "As… was… this…" Cirea heard, coming from behind him. The giant was on his knees now, his sword ready to stab.  Before Cirea had a chance to defend, the giant's sword had stabbed through Cirea's belly.  Everything went black.

            _They are free to go. Take your friend's body._


End file.
